


when I catch my breath(it's you I breathe)

by FastPacedFreeFall



Category: InuYasha - A Feudal Fairy Tale
Genre: F/M, Fanbabies, InuKag Week, Miraculous Ladybug AU, characterization ramblings inbound, these two are my favorite hot mess pairing, this fic is now on indefinite hiatus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-03-26
Updated: 2019-03-31
Packaged: 2019-12-18 03:02:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 6,710
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18241067
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FastPacedFreeFall/pseuds/FastPacedFreeFall
Summary: Seven ficlets for seven days of the girl who overcame time and the boy who was just overcome.





	1. Opposites

**Author's Note:**

> I missed out on InuKag week last year and told myself I wouldn't do that this time around. I hope all who read enjoy.
> 
> Title is from "Everywhere", by Michelle Branch.

* * *

It mattered a lot more in the beginning, the hanyou and miko thing. The ways their different edges rubbed each other raw.

Back when the jewel was newly broken, when it was just the two of them combing the lands searching and trying to figure out a way to live with each other. He would push and push to go as far as they could each day, wanting to get this over with as soon as possible and get her out of his hair—or at least that's what he told himself he wanted. She knew it was important, was starting to get an inkling of just how destructive it was to have the shards scattered to the winds where anyone could find them and use them, but was just as naïve as Inuyasha about exactly how long something like this would take. She still had her own life in the modern era to think about, and never wanted to stray too far from the well for too long.

He called her slow and distracted, she insisted that she was still trying to figure all this “youkai and magic and powers” thing out. It always resulted in some explosive fights, and they didn't really care who saw.

That led to a _lot_ of talk in pretty much every village they came across; a woman screaming back in a man's face, an _immodestly-dressed_ woman traveling alone with a _youkai_. They turned heads, and although few would say anything to their faces for fear of his claws, Inuyasha's ears burned with the whispers and disparaging mutters that wove their way through the air. He had faced such words and worse actions all his life, but the things they said about _Kagome_...

It got very hard not to go back and prove their fears of him correct. He knew that even if she understood, Kagome wouldn't be okay with him doing such a thing. She thought he was stronger than that.

It made his head swim, how much faith she placed in him, how he could count on one hand how many people had ever thought that he was more than just a foul-mouthed, ragged half-breed wretch who would have been better drowned at birth. It went beyond seeing him as a person; she saw him as an honest-to-god _friend_.

Maybe it shouldn't have come as such a surprise that their energies could combine so well against their foes. The first time her arrow combined with the Backlash Wave had filled him with awe; he'd never felt so connected to another person before. It shouldn't have been possible. They shouldn't be able to sink so deeply into the others' skin and lungs and heart, because the very essence of who and what they were dictated that they shouldn't. He was youkai and she was miko and ne'er the twain shall meet—wasn't that the lesson the world had been trying to teach him with Kikyou the first time around?

Everyone had always mocked him for being stubborn and hard-headed; maybe it was finally paying off, in the least expected way?

From there, the differences between them stopped mattering so much, barring the occasional self-doubt of his worth—he was her hanyou and she was his miko, regardless of what was or wasn't said aloud. Their group grew one by one, with more friends and more differences that meshed into one of the most formidable fighting forces of legend. 

And it all grew out of a boy and a girl who defied what the world had always said they were supposed to be.


	2. Friends

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I rewatch "Return To The Place Where We First Met" probably more often than I should. I just love it, it's one of their first real struggles to stay together in the face of what this road is throwing at them.
> 
> Also I wrote this listening to a Tinkerbell movie song on repeat because it's Inuyasha to a fuckin' T alright.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

* * *

"And when your hope crashes down, shattering to the ground, you feel all alone  
When you don't know which way to go, there's no signs leading you home,  
You're not alone..."

\- _"Gift of a Friend", Demi Lovato_

* * *

Inuyasha had a lifetime's worth of practice at keeping a mask up.

He had no choice. His world was not a world that is forgiving of weakness, and it's especially not forgiving of the weakness of a _hanyou_ no matter how young and alone they may be. One of the first things he'd had to learn after his mother's death was how to keep control of himself and his emotions; youkai or human, anyone trying to kill him would quickly get the upper hand if he let himself get worked into a panic. That was something he could absolutely not allow when his mother had worked herself so hard to keep him alive against the worst inclinations of her family.

So he walked a long road of learning to place walls around his heart, and kept his true emotions as far from his sleeves as possible. Struggling to survive hadn't only taught him how to fight; it had taught him how to put a good front in the face of malice and ridicule. He became someone whose smirk shut out everyone and everything, never allowing anyone to get too far past the harsh exterior and inviting the possibility of more abuse. There remained places in his heart that even Kikyou did not manage to touch, and a single arrow cut off the thought that she ever would.

Hanyou didn't have friends. Hanyou didn't have family. There was no place for him in anyone else's world, no matter what steps he took to change that, and the world had kicked him in the teeth to remind him of that.

Then it was fifty years later, and his self-imposed solitude ended with a girl in the shortest kimono he'd ever seen yanking his hair for all it was worth.

Inuyasha had never known someone so _infuriating_. She was loud, she got in his face, she refused to just _stay put_ in this time until they managed to fix what she broke. She wouldn't let him stay at a distance, engaging with him like they weren't quite literally worlds apart with two entirely different lots in life. Like he wasn't a half-wild beast she was supposed to tolerate and control until their quest was done. It wasn't like his time with Kikyou, constantly burying the parts of his personality he knew she wouldn't approve of, trying to make himself into someone who didn't grow up scrounging for survival with a target on his back. Kikyou had gotten under his skin, but Kagome slammed into him with all the subtlety of one of those 'rockets' she'd tried to explain to him. There was no part of him that she did not engage.

Sometimes he just wanted to take her by the arms and shake her— _why is she still here?_ She should have left his ass weeks, _months_ ago! Didn't she know what she was giving up by staying with him? She had a _home_ , with family that loved her and people that wanted her around and a world where she didn't have to worry about youkai coming after her every day for the shards. She was smart, despite all the complaining he did about her school and how it took her away too much. She could have such a better life in her world, better than anything he could ever offer her. She had to know all of this, even without his resolve to give Kikyou his life in repayment.

And now it all had to end, because he had managed to forget that his life was not actually his own to control. 

Walking to the well to tell Kagome goodbye had been one of the worst experiences of his life, right up there with Kikyou's “betrayal” and the night his mother's family threw him into the wilds. He wore a calm, subdued face, but inside his head he'd been screaming since his talk with Kaede. His mind was in meltdown, horrified that he was going to have to give up the first person in either era that made him feel like a person instead of just an animal to be looked down on. When had he gotten so used to her presence? When had he come to rely on the fact that she would just be there, that incessant-seeming smile tracing her lips and making his stomach clench in a weirdly pleasant way? What was he going to do when he couldn't count on her slight, strong grip holding him together when he couldn't muster the will to do it himself anymore?

_When did she get in so deep, and why hadn't he noticed sooner the way she'd burrowed herself into his heart?_

* * *

Kagome always thought she knew how friendship worked. 

She'd never been overly popular; people didn't clamor to stand at her side like some of her classmates over the years, but she did well enough getting along with other people. She liked people, she liked helping others, so it all ended up simple enough for a small group of companions. Her friends were just normal girls like her, nothing particular to separate them from the sea of sailor-suited girls. Nothing beyond crushes and petty heartbreaks, fashion and popular music and nothing that captured their attention for too long at a time. Simplicity.

In some ways, her friendship with Inuyasha was anything but simple.

How could it be, with youkai and magic and clandestine time-traveling involved? It was so beyond any scope of normal, and it wasn't like she could really hold it up for comparison to her friendships with the girls. How did you explain to someone the kind of bond that forms from watching someone fight for their life, get holes blown through them from monsters four times your size, day after day? How could she tell her school friends about what she felt sitting up to keep him company on nights of the new moon, when the sounds of their sleeping friends faded into the background and the world narrowed down to just the two of them and their silent understanding? Inuyasha was sensitive about it, so she didn't bring it up, but part of her waited eagerly for those nights where she could smile at him unabashedly and see him soften in their little solitude. He rarely softened towards her like that when the others were awake. It was like a secret they kept between them.

Even before any kind of inklings of romance developed, Inuyasha had carved out a place in her soul and made himself a nice little nest there, refusing to budge an inch with all the stubbornness that she'd come to appreciate as much as it drove her insane. How was she supposed to give that up?

How was she supposed to go back to a life as a schoolgirl, like nothing had happened, like there wasn't a whole other world on the other side of the well, with people she'd bonded with deeper than she ever imagined she could? She must have been an idiot to think it would be as easy as just handing back the shards, even though that's exactly what she'd intended just an hour ago—she couldn't even look at the wellhouse without the thought of saying goodbye making her stomach wrench. Even the memory of Inuyasha clutching Kikyou to him like a lifeline paled in comparison to the prospect of letting go of him and the Feudal Era. It took every ounce of self-control to not fly into a screaming fury beneath Goshinboku the way she wanted to, keeping herself rooted silently to the ground with tears drenching the dirt below. 

This was the man she _loved_ , the best friend she'd ever had. How could she stand to tell him goodbye?

* * *

In the end, as it always was, Mama had known just the right thing to say.

She took those words into her bruised heart, and found a reconciliation. She gathered herself, and whisked herself back through the well.

She and he met in the meadow, and the promise to stay they made that day became one more linking strand in their growing bond. One built on the choice to cherish their friendship above all the twisting, complicated feelings that might come to surface.


	3. Haunted

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry this is late, and the prompt for today will hopefully be posted tomorrow. I had some urgent family shit suddenly come up, but it's resolved a lot of itself, so tomorrow I should be back on track.
> 
> This is set after the whole Tsubaki debacle, because it struck me a little weird that Kagome never really reacted more to being controlled like a puppet. That's some scary shit. Also, Inu pulls a bit of a Kamina on Kags, only softer and more romantic with less giant mecha.  
> BELIEVE IN THE INU THAT BELIEVES IN YOU, KAGOME!
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!

* * *

The next time Kagome wants to go home, to her surprise, Inuyasha doesn't put up a fight.

They'd only just gotten back to the village to reassure Kaede of her recovery, and Kagome had tentatively floated the idea of going back home to catch up on schoolwork and check in with her family. The group needed the rest; their nerves were still raw after the fight and pursuit of Tsubaki, and she hadn't missed the looks and whispers that Miroku and Sango were sharing behind her back. Sango had tried to bring it up during a bath, but what her school friends had termed her 'scary smile' had come out in full force, and the taijiya had promptly changed the subject. Shippou had rode on her shoulder or her lap the whole way back, quiet in a way he usually wasn't, his small fingers clinging to her shirt no matter how much she petted his hair and assured him that she was okay. Inuyasha hadn't said anything in particular, but she could feel his eyes boring into the back of her head.

She knew that the whole mess with the dark miko's curse must have scared the daylights out of them, but the way they were hovering around her was taking her already frayed nerves and yanking the threads out one by one. She didn't want to repay their concern by biting their heads off.

Not only did Inuyasha not argue with her, he'd taken her bag and walked her back to the well himself. They didn't say much more than a few words before she let the portal carry her back, and she couldn't help but wonder about the considering look on her best friends' face.

* * *

The shrine grounds are quiet when he slips out of the well-house. It's not any different from any other night he's stole his way up to Kagome's window; the shrine is closed to visitors, the family is asleep in their beds. All is calm, nothing amiss.

It shouldn't put him on edge as much as it does.

Sometimes he thinks the others don't give him enough credit when it comes to observation. Oh sure, they trust him with their lives when it comes to battles and playing guard dog for the camp at night, and he knows there's no real ill-will meant when they call him bone-headed, because he can be. But when it 's anything involving emotions, they underestimate how much attention he's paying to the world around him. He'll be the first to say he's no expert, but even he can't ignore how strung out Kagome is, and how desperately she's trying to pretend she's not.

It's not like he was surprised; after the shit that witch had put her through, he'd be worried if she wasn't stressed out or exhausted. But the fact that she was trying to pretend that she was okay, that she wasn't jerking awake in tears every night from her nightmares, _that_ was starting to worry him. Kagome always said that he would feel better if he talked to her about what was bothering him, and she usually tried not to be a hypocrite, so what was it about this time that was so different? Why was she suddenly clamming up behind a strained smile and refusing to admit there was something wrong?

He worries the entire time he's sliding through her unlocked window, his eyes easily finding her curled up form laying back against the wall. There's already a divot in the skin between her scrunched brows, a sure sign that the nightmares have started up again. He backs off and takes up his post underneath the window, waiting for the inevitable with his sword resting against a shoulder.

It doesn't take as long as he thought it would.

Kagome's eyes are wild as she shoots up from a dead sleep, a quiet whimper escaping when she catches a flash of moonlight reflecting off his eyes.

“'s just me,” he murmurs, watching the recognition seep into her gaze and his tense shoulders relax with her own. She clears her throat and gives him a trembling smile, and the shimmer of growing tears on her eyelids makes something in him snaps.

“Kagome, what's going on?”

It's not so much a question as a gentle demand, and the way Kagome's teeth sink into her lower lip tells him she hears the frustrated undertone. He knows he's risking a fight, and the set to her jaw tells him that she wouldn't be adverse to giving him one, but it's starting to drive him nuts not knowing what the problem is or how to fix it, and he won't unless she _talks_ to him!

“Don't glare at me like that,” he growls, not willing to indulge her stubbornness. “You know damn well there's somethin' wrong, somethin' you're not tellin' me, even though you always nag me to talk about my problems. So out with it, wench.”

(He will, however, take full advantage of her guilt.)

She wants to fight him on it, that much he can tell. Her lips purse like she's ready to 'sit' him through the second floor into the family room, and his next words come out barely above a whisper.

“Kagome, _let me help_.”

It draws her up short before her mouth can form the word, and something about the intensity of his gaze on her takes the wind out of her sails. Instead of trying to keep up the angry front, she scoots until her back leans on the wall, a silent request for his company. He's on the bed for all of a second when she tips over to rest against his side. He can feel his skin burn red all the way up to his ears, but a clawed hand snakes around to grasp her shoulder and pull her in closer.

Her voice is choked and wavering. “I can't stop seeing it. Every time I try to sleep, I go back to Kaede's hut, and I'm pointing an arrow at you again. _Her_ voice is back in my head, telling me to shoot, and sometimes-”

The confession cuts off with a muffled sob, and Inuyasha fights not to squirm as the smell of salt floods his nose. She needs strength right now, not his discomfort.

“...sometimes you loose the arrow,” he finishes, drawing her closer to his chest and silently swearing that next time they meet, he's going to take every tear she's cried out of Naraku's flesh for this stunt. She flinches, but nods her head against his sternum and whispers an “I'm sorry”.

“Stupid,” he says, not a hint of anger or irritation in his tone. “You don't need to apologize for what happens in dreams.”

It doesn't pull a smile out of her; instead, the hand gripping his haori tightens, and he hears a shuddering intake of breath.

“What if... what if it wasn't just a dream? What if—I could have _killed_ you. I almost _did._ ”

He'd been afraid of this. Kagome's one of the toughest people he knows, but like him, she can rake herself over the coals really well when she put her mind to it. It's probably the reason she knows how to pull him out of his own self-loathing so well.

A low growl rumbles from his chest, meant to soothe rather than threaten for once, and he absently strokes her hair. He's nowhere near as good at dealing with emotions; how is he going to do the same for her?

“I didn't think it would be so easy for her to control me.”

There's a note of self-reproach in her voice. “It was _so hard_ to fight her. I know I've never been trained, but... she had complete control, and I _couldn't_ do anything to stop her. I've never—never felt so-”

White puppy ears slam down against his skull, and the harsh words that he'd been so free with when they first started traveling together are front and center in the air. She doesn't finish the sentence, but she doesn't have to. 

_Never felt so **weak**._

Looking like he'll be kicking his own ass right after he's done with Naraku.

If they were still in his era, he wouldn't have dared to do this; the monk and the kit have awful timing, and the teasing would be relentless. But the only other people in the house are sleeping, not even aware of his presence, and Kagome is starting to do that thing she sometimes does when she needs to cry, but tries to do it as quietly as possible, not drawing attention to herself. Like it's going to make him worry any less or something.

The hand that's not on her shoulder slides under her knees, and he lifts her into his lap without a word, bringing her head to rest against his collarbone so he can tuck her under his chin. She stops crying, her breath hitching for a different reason, and it's hard to keep his own embarrassment from taking over when his ears pick up her faster heartbeat.

“Don't start with that shit, wench,” he growls. “You're not weak. You know damn well you're not, no matter what stupid shit I've said to you in the past. This ain't about bein' strong or bein' weak; that old witch and Naraku got the drop on us, but you sent the bitch's curse right back at her. You fought her off and made your arrow miss me. What part of that sounds weak to you?”

Her fingers twitch against his chest.

“B-but,” she whimpers. “I still did it. _I_ was the one holding the arrow on you. Making it miss you... I only _barely_ managed to do that. And now Naraku _knows_ I can be controlled. What if he tries again? What if next time, I can't make myself miss the shot?”

“And what if next time, it's one of _us_ who's being controlled,” he snaps. He can hear what she's dancing around: _it's not safe for you to be with me._ He's had too much experience with the idea himself; he can't let that poison take root in Kagome's head. “You ain't the only one who's done awful things when they couldn't control themselves, wench. You should have run your fool ass back to this time and blocked the well after I slaughtered those bandits, and no one would have blamed you one bit.”

Kagome jerks her head back to stare up at him, red-rimmed eyes wide in disbelief. “That's—that's completely different!”

And they were back to their common ground: arguing.

“How in the hell is it different!”

“Because you were going after actually bad people, who did bad things! You were protecting those village women!”

“Big fuckin' deal! I still killed humans without a thought, and if that asshole Sesshoumaru hadn't shown up and stopped me I probably would've turned on you and the others next!”

“I don't believe that! You could've easily gone after the villagers first after breaking that moth youkai's cocoon since they were closer, but you went straight for the bandits and the youkai! I was running straight at you and yelling your name, but you didn't make a move towards me!”

_**“That's not the fuckin' point! If I hadn't been-”** _

The creak of an opening door catches his attention, and Inuyasha catches his lip on a fang cutting his words off. He hadn't realized how loud they'd gotten—Kagome's mom put up with a lot of his shit, but he gets the feeling that she wouldn't be very forgiving of him screaming at her daughter in the middle of the night, alone together in her bedroom. Kagome's eyes still burn with belligerence, but she seems to sense the need for silence, so she turns her attention to his bleeding lip while Inuyasha's ears strain for the sound of approaching footsteps.

None come, and there's soon a quiet click from the same direction, so he figures they're out of the woods for now. A flash of white catches his eye, Kagome's hand already dabbing a handkerchief at his tiny wound before he can wave her off, and it sends a wave of warmth through him to replace his earlier temper. He catches her fingers before she can pull away, gripping her hand in a gentle hold, and watching a soft, pretty blush wash over her face with particular interest.

“Don't you get it, wench? You ain't abandoned me, even when I'm at my most dangerous. So what the hell makes you think I'm willing to abandon you?” 

Her eyes go soft, drawing him in with the hope and promise he can see rising in her gaze, and he draws her back into his embrace. “I told you, I need you with me,” he murmurs, lowering his head until the tip of his nose rests in her hair. “Nothing's ever gonna change that.”

_I trust you. I trust you with me, so trust yourself a little more._

The tension finally goes out of her shoulders, and she melts into his hold with a tiny nod, her arms coming up to circle around his back. They stay that way til dawn, neither willing to move an inch from this little corner of the world just for the two of them.


	4. Affection

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's see if I can finish playing catch-up tonight!
> 
> This was inspired by the beginning of the fourth ending "Every Heart", with Inu riding on the back of Kagome's bike. I love that.
> 
> Hope you enjoy!

* * *

Inuyasha and Kagome being affectionate does not, from the outside, look like what most people expect affection to look like.

For the most part, when outsiders see them, they're usually arguing about one thing or another. Standing in each others' faces, nose-tips almost touching as they scowl and growl at each other, the air around them charged like the wrong word will devolve into an all-out brawl. Most untrained eyes miss the gleam in her eyes as she shoots back another retort, and the quirk at the corners of his lips that threaten to turn into a full grin. They don't notice that there's no actual heat in their words, instead averting their gaze and hurrying away before they can get caught up in it.

No one sees that neither of the two ever bother to look around at anyone else.

While uneasy villagers may witness the 'ugly' side, however, only the others of the group see them on the evenings that they find a peaceful, open site to camp. Those nights, when they're not rushing after one rumor or another, Kagome is very conspicuous about walking her bike past with hanyou with an open smile. They switch their focus to their own conversation, watching out of the corners of their eyes as he follows nonchalantly and biting their lips against their own smirks, wondering what will be written across their faces when they come back.

The bike rides don't happen as often as they wish—something neither would admit out loud—but are always something that only they share. It's one of the few times that they can put aside their quest, their obligations, and just be Inuyasha and Kagome together. Inuyasha hadn't been too sure of sitting on the metal rack at first; there was no way such a small thing wouldn't break under him. Now, though, the combination of the bike rocking back and forth on the road and Kagome's scent flooding over him on the wind made his eyelids sink down and his muscles relax. Every so often Kagome looks back with a soft, happy smile and a warmth rising in her chest at his willingness to let her take the reins.

By the time they get back, Sango and Miroku have settled down in their sleeping spots, and Shippou is already tucked away in Kagome's sleeping bag. He never wakes when she drags it over to where Inuyasha has decided to set up post to guard them for the night. When the night is especially nice, skies clear and stars gleaming down, she'll fight to stay up just a little longer with him, murmuring stories about the stars from her era until her body finally gives up and drags her to slumber.

The last thing she sees on those nights is Inuyasha's face full with the smile he keeps only for her.


	5. Jealousy

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, TODAY we're gonna get back on schedule!
> 
> I included a few of my personal InuKag fanbabies in here, but the majority of the focus is still on Inu and Kag. My mom recently had a health scare, and it got me to thinking about how parents see their personal hurts and losses in relation to their own children. Idk, I'm not explaining it very well.
> 
> Kemari is, in the plainest words, a Japanese version of hacky-sack. Wikipedia can explain it better than I.
> 
> Hiroaki is the eldest, about 8 or 9. Yumiko is around 3 or 4.
> 
> Hope you guys enjoy!!

* * *

Inuyasha tried to ignore it at first.

Nothing about the scene should have set him off—it was just he and Hiro coming back from a hunting trip, Hiro's chest puffed out over the young boar he'd managed to take down before his father could stop him.

(Maybe if he said the kid snuck away from him, Kagome wouldn't kill him over the shredded kosode.)

They had just passed through the last copse of trees hiding the hut, and Yumiko's squeal was the first sound to greet them as she slipped out of her mother's grasp to take a running leap into his arms.

“Good hunt,” she asked, reaching up to hold onto the beads.

“ _Very_ good hunt,” he rumbled back, bouncing her a bit while Kagome rushed over to look Hiro over for wounds. Her pointedly raised eyebrow and pursed lips told him that they would be Talking about this later, but she pushed her concern aside for the moment and let a proud, beaming smile wash over her face instead. Hiro whined as she pulled him into a tight hug and gushed about how proud she was of him and how fast he was growing up, his ears laying flat against his hair in embarrassment. Nothing about it was strange or unusual, but it made Inuyasha feel like a hand was twisting his gut.

_A pair of warm, familiar arms swung him in a wide circle before pulling him to her chest in a tight hug. The bird he'd leapt off the roof to take down lay off to the side, forgotten in favor of his mother's excited praise._

He hadn't thought about that in years, and the scene in front of him was so familiar that it ached like a physical blow. It had been his first hunt, and she'd been so proud of him, that it made her death just a few months later even more agonizing. He knew the kills themselves made his mother uncomfortable, but she couldn't stop saying how impressed she was with his instinct—that he was so much like his father.

Then she was gone, and there was no one to see his milestones. No one to give him any kind of praise that wasn't a mocking comment on how good he was at getting the shit beaten out of him.

He watched Kagome continue to commend Hiroaki, Yumiko having jumped down to join the hugging and laugh at Hiro's bright red face. His children would never know that kind of misery, even should anything happen to him or Kagome, and a sense of gratitude replaced that awful tightness as he went to join his family.

It stayed in the back of his mind, though.

* * *

It should have been just a sweet moment between father and daughter. It shouldn't put a lump in her throat.

Kagome had been finishing up some laundry, the late spring day encouraging her to stay outside as much as possible. She hadn't been the only one feeling the pull, as a nearby shriek reminded her, and Yumiko came rushing over after her wayward ball. She gave her mother a toothy grin before bolting back to where Inuyasha waited to continue their game. Yumiko had become fascinated with kemari after Shippou's tales of the ridiculously complex games the other training kitsune would come up with in their downtime, and Inuyasha had surprised her with a ball he'd made himself one day. Kagome knew the game held some particularly painful memories for him, so the fact that he would put it aside to indulge their daughter...

Well, let's just say she'd quickly instructed Hiro to take his ecstatic sister into the village to show her friends, so she could show Inuyasha _her_ appreciation.

Yumi wasn't all that good at it yet; she was more likely to kick herself or slip on the grass than hit the ball back, but was just as stubborn as the rest of her family and refused to give up. On the few occasions that she did kick it back, Inuyasha would run up to swing her into a big hug, making her squeal loud enough to fill the clearing around their house. It was the most precious thing she'd ever seen.

Which made the burning around her eyelids come with an extra helping of guilt.

_“That's my girl!”_

_Kagome's four-year-old body could barely contain her pride at her father's praise, his grin shining as bright as the sun as he ran after the soccer ball. This was their thing, their little slice of time together, kicking the ball back and forth and happy shouts filling the shrine grounds._

After her father's death, Kagome couldn't bring herself to pull the old ball out of where she'd thrown it into her closet, not without the promise of his sunny smile at the other end. When Souta had taken up the sport, she'd been supportive, and had gifted him with the best ball she could afford for his birthday, but her ball remained hidden. She loved her brother dearly, but she couldn't give away one of the few memories only she had shared with their father.

She should be so happy, and a large part of her was. Her children would never grow up with the hole of their father's absence in their hearts, watching their mother struggle to bring them a sense of normalcy while she dealt with her own grief.

She couldn't kill the pang of hurt in her heart, though.

* * *

Apparently she hadn't been as successful at covering her sadness as she thought, because that night, after the children had both drifted off to sleep, Inuyasha joined her by the fire. His eyes bored into her past the front she'd been putting up, recognizing the same hurt in her that he'd felt himself, and he pulled her into his lap without a word, his chin going to its usual resting place atop her head. She let out a shuddered sigh, gripping his haori to center herself, and they let themselves grieve together with matching watery smiles.

They would never rid themselves entirely of the sense of loss, but they could face it down the way they did every other obstacle: together.


	6. AU - Miraculous Ladybug

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Just past midnight, but now caught up!
> 
> So once I saw AU as today, it was never going to be anything but this. I like the idea of these two running around Tokyo after akumas, and the love square between them, just with less putting each other on a pedestal and stalker behavior. Seriously, ZagToons, it ain't cute.
> 
> Tentou-mushi means, more-or-less, ladybug with the kanji for "red girl". Kuro Neko is pretty self-explanatory.
> 
> Hope you all enjoy!!

* * *

Tentou-mushi is about to tear out her hair in frustration, and that will definitely _not_ make for a good look once the media catches up to them.

They've been chasing Royakan since the beginning of lunchtime; she'd literally taken one bite of her bento before the screams started up, and though the suit's magic soaks up most of her discomfort, she knows she's going to be suffering hunger pains until the end of the day. Class is going to be hell.

All because some _**jackasses**_ thought it would be funny to rip up the kid's extra-credit report on the disappearance of Japanese wolves. She would rather go back and knock their heads together, maybe that would de-akumatize him faster.

“ _Dammit_ , are we gonna have to chase him the rest of the day?! I'm starving!”

She rolls her eyes, surprised he'd held off from cursing up a storm for this long. “And I'm not? We're starting to gain on him, so get ready to use your Iron Reaver to cut off his escape.”

Kuro Neko, who'd been running by her side as Royakan led them into downtown Tokyo, shot her a poisonous glare that she had to struggle not to laugh at. “I'm ready whenever _you_ decide that you've got a plan to take him down, which I hope is soon cause I'll be running on empty and I'd rather not turn back in the middle of the street, wench.”

A nerve ticks in her forehead at the nickname, and she thinks maybe instead of laughing she should just strangle him instead. He's her partner and she loves him, but surely she can get used to a new one?

Another roar from up ahead jerks her out of her homicidal thoughts, and they find that Royakan, either tired of playing chase or on orders from Naraku, has turned to face them, his huge claws outstretched at each side and ready to rip into them. Tentou-mushi pulls her bow out, aiming an arrow made of pure energy straight into the sky.

“ _ **Sacred Arrow!**_ ”

It explodes in burst of magic, and into her waiting hands falls a wolf plushie that howls when she squeezes it.

“Great,” Kuro Neko drawls. “Glad to see that this has turned into playtime.”

Tentou-mushi can see what the Miraculous has planned, though, and faces her partner with a sharp grin. “Actually, a little play is _exactly_ what we're going to do.”

* * *

The plan goes off without a hitch, and the citizens of Tokyo hail their heroes for another success against Naraku's akuma. They hand off Royakan to an officer who volunteers to take him back to school, and take a moment to catch their breath on Tokyo Tower before their Miraculous demand they leave.

Kuro Neko's hair dances in the wind from it's high ponytail, and Tentou-mushi can't help but be a little mesmerized. Even if half the things that come out of his mouth piss her off, she can't help but notice how gorgeous her partner is.

“You almost got hit back there,” he grumbles, not looking at her despite the concern laced through his voice. “Be more careful next time.”

Tentou-mushi bites her lip against the silly grin that wants to break out. “You were worried about me?”

As she expected, he stutters out a denial, blush bright on the skin not covered by his mask. She'd stay and poke more fun at him, but her earrings chime another warning to get herself back, one echoed by Neko's necklace. So with a final wink, she makes a run for the next rooftop, wondering if she has enough time to grab something for Tikki and still make it before the final bell.

* * *

Inuyasha gets back to school just in time for the last bell calling them to class.

His ears, back in their natural canine state, flick towards Plagg's incessant grumbling about forgetting his cheese and knows the rest of the day is gonna be it's own special kind of hell. Maybe he'll just go ahead and skip his last classes; it's not like Sesshoumaru is going to give him shit for skipping, or acknowledge him at all.

A pair of clattering heels catches his attention, and class representative Kagome Higurashi comes flying around the corner to slam into his chest. His hands come up automatically to steady her, hoping she doesn't somehow notice that his heart is suddenly beating its' way out of his chest.

He looks down, and a pair of big, warm brown eyes almost makes his heart stop instead.

“S-sorry, Taishou-san,” she squeaks, and dammit if it isn't the cutest squeak he's ever heard. “I guess I'm not the only one running a little behind.” And there's that smile, the one that Plagg teases him endlessly about. The smile that she might flash at everyone, but always feels like it's just for whoever catches her eye, open and accepting.

Most people are happy to let him fade into the background, but not her. She keeps trying to draw him out of his shell and into the larger world, and he can't decide if he hates it or not.

Instead of opening his mouth and making an idiot of himself, like he's usually wont to do, he just nods and steps back to let her into the classroom, slipping in behind and grabbing a seat at the back. He can see her a few seats ahead, her wavy hair slightly windswept, and wonders if maybe there isn't something to be said for getting outside his little sequestered world, if Kagome will be waiting on the other side of his walls.


	7. Indefinite Hiatus

We had to put our dog to sleep tonight. I don't know if I'll finish the last chapter.

I love you, Blaze.


End file.
